Trust the piano player in the bar of my hotel to sum up the Dubai experience. As she fashioned a lilting version of ‘The Impossible Dream’, I was struck by how apt it was to be listening to that Don Quixote-inspired song in a place that sets new standards of sheer, unadulterated self-belief.
In the 24-hour building that hums quietly under sun and stars, belief. In the relaxed, friendly manner of the locals, utter confidence. And the beautiful man-made islands that have risen from the Arabian Gulf, ready for buyers and builders? Simply a physical manifestation of an unshakeable faith in the most audacious, most incomprehensibly huge project I can recall.
The root of the project, the focus of all this belief, is a number: 15 million. This represents the number of tourists Dubai is to have by the end of 2010. This has been decreed by His Highness Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai, and it is this figure that kept being quoted to me as I explored this fascinating place. And such is the power of belief here that I quickly became convinced that this staggeringly ambitious goal will be met.
When the 15 million people arrive, there will be no shortage of things to do. There is the world class golf course at Arabian Ranches Golf Club, camel racing, horse racing, polo, water sports of all descriptions, 70 kilometres of beautiful sandy beaches, incredible shopping – even snow skiing and tobogganing at a fabulous indoor winter sports centre at the Mall of the Emirates. There is, in short, everything. And it’s an extremely high-quality everything – and however crazy Dubai can sometimes seem, the components also make a strange kind of sense.
One of the truly excellent aspects of Dubai is its restaurants. Choose from eight fantastic eateries at the seven-star Burj al-Arab, sample the wonderful service and food of the Dubai Polo Club, or opt for traditional Arab fare – any kind of food is available, and the standard is breathtaking.
Dubai has more then 300 high-quality hotels and more are on the way, all part of ‘Project 15 Million’ as I came to call it. And these hotels are never short of customers, whatever the time of year. ‘We don’t have seasons in Dubai,’ says Abdullah bin Suwaidan, deputy manager of missions for Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. ‘We have high season and very high season.’
All of this activity means property in Dubai is very hot indeed. The nature of Dubai, with its very business-friendly environment, low crime rate, amazing weather and good schools, means that record numbers of Brits are going there to live, for a few years or more long-term. The quality and choice of properties is very high indeed, and you can get a surprising amount of space and level of spec at prices that compare very favourably with the London market.
There are so many high-profile developments currently in the works that the sheer numbers seem to defy logic.
The market in Dubai is unlike any other, with many investors buying off-plan and selling again off-plan in order to step up the property ladder. This process is a specialty of key2dubai, a company based in both London and Dubai whose specialty is guiding investors through it. According to Fiona Kumar, key2dubai will buy the property and then place it with an investor for whom it is suitable, after which they will keep track of the clients’ needs and advise them on when to make the next move.
‘Somebody comes to us with a budget and we give them the best investment at that price,’ she explains. ‘Then maybe at the top of the market, but not necessarily at the very top, we will say, “Now’s the time to make the next move.” Some people buy and within a month they sell because it’s gone up enough to be profitable.’
With their knowledge of the market, key2dubai helps investment buyers get the most out of their investment. ‘We advised one client to trade up when, although it wasn’t the top of the market, profits were running at 30-40 per cent. We advised him to sell that property and go on to the next one. He did that and he’s now on The Palm,’ says Kumar.
Ah yes, The Palm. The famous Palm Jumeirah, which is to be completed at the end of this year, is a huge man-made palm-shaped set of ‘fronds’ reaching out four kilometres into the Gulf. The homes here were immediately popular and many have seen their initial investment give an extremely good return.
Although the properties on The Palm were snapped up from developer Nakheel ages ago, there are currently many properties available there on the resale market, many through key2dubai. The range of prices at The Palm Jumeirah means investors of all budgets can get involved: current availability includes everything from a two-bedroom eighth-floor shoreline apartment with 1,646 square feet priced at £214,995, to a three-bedroom town house measuring over 4,000 square feet priced at £1.26 million.
Other Palms are to follow, also created by the major developer Nakheel. The Palm Jebel Ali will feature homes built on stilts, the ultimate in waterside living. And the outer crescent of this 12-kilometre group of manufactured islands will actually spell out a poem written by HH Sheik Mohammed. Meanwhile, The Palm Deira takes waterfront cities such as Amsterdam, Boston and Venice as its very worthy inspirations.
Another very popular Nakheel development is The World, which is a suitably humble name for this group of 300 islands four kilometres from the coast. The World not only represents every part of the earth’s land mass; it is also visible from space. Like The Palm, this is manufactured land: beautiful white sand disappearing into lovely, warm, perfect sea. I was fortunate enough to be able to take a boat trip to Britain, and the intense heat of a June afternoon was not my only clue that this was a fairytale Britain, not the one I commute in every day. Water and sand, a dock and nothing else. Despite rumours of people such as Rod Stewart and Richard Branson having bought Britain, according to Nakheel the island remains unclaimed.
Eventually The World will comprise houses, apartments, restaurants and retail facilities – a fabulous location in every way. Currently key2dubai offers property in The World ranging price from £234,667 for a one-bedroom apartment to just over £2 million for a four-bedroom home.
The development is taking place in the desert as well as in the Arabian Gulf, and there are some fantastic homes available there. Arabian Ranches is a vast collection of villas that make the most of the beautiful desert light and offer an abundance of space. Currently priced from £214,815 to £514,074, these homes are available with different levels of specification, from simple and elegant to more ornate materials and designs.
The Arabian Ranches Golf Club is a demanding course on which some of the world’s greatest golf professionals have played. Proximity to such a well regarded course is a definite plus for property owners, whether buying to live in or to use as an investment.
Another golf-friendly development is The Views, a project by Emaar Properties overlooking the Emirates Golf Club. The developer has just launched a new series of unique duplexes and villas at The Views, which not only overlooks Emirates Golf Club but is also within close proximity to The Montgomerie Dubai golf course.
The low-rise luxury villas and duplexes set among Golf Towers offer the option of water-view of golf-side living. Some of the limited number of golf-side villas have a separate entrance to give residents exclusive access.
Completion of the duplexes is expected in June next year. Besides being well located for golfing, these homes also have the advantage of being near the hubs of Dubai’s information economy, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City and Knowledge Village.
Another Emaar creation is not just the talk of the town – it will be the tallest building in the world. Proof, if proof were needed that Dubai thinks big. Burj Dubai promises to be so tall that we’re not allowed to know how tall it will be. Presently being built at a rate of one storey every four days, this amazing building will rise roughly twice as high as Tower 101 in Taipei. Burj Dubai will be home to very luxurious, modern apartments as well as a library, tourists’ viewing platform, health spa and much more. The building is the centrepiece of a wider development, Burj Dubai Downtown, which will offer thousands of homes of all shapes and sizes. Besides the main tower, there will be traditional-style homes at Old Town, loft living at The Lofts and the nine luxurious towers of The Residences. Find out more about the fantastic properties available in this very up-and-coming area of Dubai by visiting emaar.com.
Dubai is ever-changing, always interesting and, for the investment buyer, pure gold.
For more information on key2dubai properties visit key2dubai.com or call the UK office on 020 7749 3630 or the Dubai office on 00 971 4 321 1353. For holidays to Dubai visit key2holidays.co.uk; prices start at £799 for five nights in Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort.
Johnny Turner flew Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates; seats in the luxurious pearl zone are priced from £1,290 return including tax. Call 0870 241 7121 or visit etihadairways.com